We have all seen the dominant images of the future: chrome cities with flying cars, superpowerful AI, and elite colonies on Mars. These visions are often presented not as possibilities, but as inevitable destinations. They are "canned futures" sold to us by a handful of interests, leaving little room for the rest of us to participate.
Our imagination is being colonized by these very few, but very dominant images of the future, while our planet burns and our communities struggle. And when we let these visions go unchallenged, they become the official Future: a default setting that traps us in the imagination of others.
And here’s the truth: if we can’t imagine something better, we simply won’t create it. To build a world that works for everyone, we must decolonize the future and reclaim our right to imagine.
The imaginary crisis
We are currently facing an invisible deficit: the deteriorating state of our shared social imagination. We find it easier to imagine a global apocalypse or the next generation of gadgets than a plausible, desirable society thirty years from now. This is a poverty of imagination.
In the past, the future was seen as a wide-open territory for social and cultural experimentation. Today, the future has shrunk. It has become something that "happens" to us rather than something we shape. When we lose the ability to picture alternative ways of living, organizing, and relating to one another, we lose our agency. We become trapped in "business as usual," addressing immediate symptoms while the root causes of our challenges go untouched. We must challenge the "default future” and realize that our current mental models are often built on obsolete assumptions that no longer serve the world.
Why futures literacy matters
Reclaiming our imagination requires a new skill: futures literacy. It's the ability to use the future to change the present—to learn about today through the lens of tomorrow, rather than trying to understand the future from the perspective of the present.
Becoming futures literate means:
- Exploring, not predicting: It’s not about having a crystal ball; it’s about exploring a wide set of possibilities to find what is truly desirable for people and the planet.
- Challenging mindsets: We must challenge the belief that the "default future” is the only one available. We all need to recognize that we have the power to create our own future, and we can equip ourselves with the tools to dare and build it together.
- Harnessing signals of change: We look to what is visible on the horizon—the emergent "pockets of the future" already here—to create what could be.
- Building alternative futures: Using approaches like Futures Design, we can bridge the gap between today and tomorrow, turning imagination into action.
The future is collective
There is a common myth that the future is designed by tech giants or a few visionary "superstars". In reality, the creation of the future is far too important to be left only to an elite.
The most powerful futures are those co-created by communities. Whether it is rethinking migration as a shared global contribution, championing a nature-first approach for everyday life, or creating "third spaces" where Indigenous wisdom and modern science meet—the future belongs to the collective.
We don’t need one "perfect" future; we need a plurality of futures that reflect the richness of the human experience.
Becoming a creator of alternative futures
To be "futures literate" is to treat imagination as a vital competency, a foundational skill for the 21st century. We need changemakers who are ready to move from passive observation to active creation. Here’s how:
- Challenge the "default future": Actively question the paradigms that no longer serve us. Recognize that the current state of things is not "inevitable"; it was designed, and it can be redesigned.
- Start a moonshot: Don’t settle for a 10% improvement on a broken system. Aim for a 10x shift in how we relate to the planet and each other.
- Prototype your minimal viable future: You don’t have to change the whole world tomorrow. Build the smallest, most tangible version of the future you want to see—a community initiative, a new way of learning, or a cultural project—and start living in it today.
We’re living in a polycrisis: a time where environmental, social, and economic systems are failing simultaneously. But we can choose to reframe this crisis, and see it rather as a profound transition. And at this crucial crossroads between the old world and the new, it is up to us to reclaim our agency to imagine better futures, rather than being trapped in the imagination of others.
Remember: the future can always be otherwise. It is a project we build together, and it is time for us to become, once again, the creators of our own destiny.
